Ellen DeGeneres thanks viewers after she tapes final edition of The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Ellen DeGeneres took to Instagram on Thursday to commemorate the final taping of her long-running talk show, The Ellen Show.

‘Today we taped the final episode of The Ellen Show which airs on May 26th,’ DeGeneres, 64, captioned a shot of herself sitting on the set of the series.

DeGeneres looked back on the massive changes in the world that have occurred in the time since the talk show hit the air 19 years ago.

‘When we started this show in 2003, the iPhone didn’t exist,’ she said. ‘Social Media didn’t exist. Gay marriage wasn’t legal. We watched the world change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.’

DeGeneres said that ‘whatever was happening, [her] goal was always for the show to be a place where we could all come together and laugh for an hour.

‘Being invited into your lives has been the greatest privilege of my life and has brought me incredible joy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.’

The final taping comes after a tumultuous period of more than two years in which DeGeneres caught flak for her behavior on and off set, leading to a massive toxic workplace scandal that spurred a company investigation and decline in ratings.

The final taping comes after a tumultuous period of more than two years in which DeGeneres caught flak for her behavior on and off set, leading to a massive toxic workplace scandal that spurred a company investigation and decline in ratings

Ellen received bad publicity after employees of her show complained about poor treatment from the show’s execs as the coronavirus forced her to film the show from home

A pileup of professional problems for DeGeneres – who encouraged people to ‘Be kind’ on her show – sprouted in March of 2020, after comedian Kevin T. Porter went viral after asking his followers to post ‘insane’ tales of ‘Ellen being mean’ in a charitable effort for Los Angeles Food Bank.

The tweet inspired hundreds of responses, snowballing into more bad publicity for the star as employees of her show complained about poor treatment from the show’s execs as the coronavirus forced DeGeneres to film her show from home.

In July of 2020, Buzzfeed published a pair of reports speaking with current and former employees for the show who said that the program was plagued by a toxic work environment rife with bullying, sexual misconduct and racist remarks.

Warner Bros.’s parent company WarnerMedia subsequently launched an internal probe of the show, saying that findings indicated ‘some flaws in the show’s daily management’ and ‘deficiencies related to the show’s day-to-day management.’

In August of 2020, Warner Bros. announced that executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman had ‘parted ways’ with the show prior to its 18th season.

When DeGeneres returned to the air in September of 2020, she apologized over the scandal over things ‘that never should have happened.’

DeGeneres announced she was ending her show in May of 2021, telling fans that she intuitively felt it was time to wrap things up in its 19th season 

The long-running talk show first hit the air in 2003 

‘I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power,’ she said, ‘and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.

‘We have had a lot of conversations over the last few weeks about the show, our workplace, and what we want for the future. We have made the necessary changes and today we are starting a new chapter.’

In the speech, DeGeneres also addressed allegations aimed at her personal behavior, saying, ‘The truth is I am that person that you see on TV. I am also a lot of other things. I get sad. I get mad. I get anxious. I get frustrated. I get impatient. And I am working on all of that.’

The show felt an immediate ratings hit, as it averaged 1.5 million viewers in the first six months of the season compared to 2.6 million the year before, according to Nielsen.

DeGeneres announced she was ending her show in May of 2021, telling fans that she intuitively felt it was time to wrap things up in its 19th season.

‘You may wonder why I’ve decided to end after 19 seasons,’ she said on her show. ‘The truth is, I always trust my instincts. My instinct told me it’s time.’